Hi, I'm Greg and I'm a Rockaholic! Ever since I first saw The Beatles I always wanted to be in a band. Like most bands, including The Beatles, I started out playing other people's music. In fact, that is usually how you first learn to play any instrument. You learn to play a song. At least that's how I started out. Eventually I met up with other musicians and we'd start a band, learn the popular songs of the times and eventually get gigs. We'd play store openings, church functions, battle of the bands, school dances and eventually clubs. I even put ads out in local newspapers that said "HAVING A PARTY? RENT A BAND!" We got loads of gigs. It was great fun and very rewarding to know I could make a living playing music.
It didn't take me very long to realize the way to potentially make really big bucks was to write your own music and either become famous or have someone else 'make it' with your song. That was, and still is my dream. Of course, what I didn't know in the early days was it takes connections, lots of financial backing, and sometimes getting on one's knees to make that a reality. Oh, did I forget to mention, songwriting talent and stage presence and having a great band didn't hurt, either. A lot of rejection is in the equation, too. I was ignorant and thought I would be discovered! But the bottom line is, if you can make an original song of yours become a hit in any way, you have set up a royalty situation for yourself. That's where the real money is. If you can write just one hit song (one hit wonder), you can live off that one song for the rest of your life! How well you live depends on how successful the song becomes, how much radio play it gets, how many other artists cover the song, etc.
That doesn't mean writing your own music is for everyone. I've seen some of the greatest musicians and super great cover bands attempt to do originals but the problem is they just don't come off as original. It's not so easy to do. Most band's originals sound like someone else. How many Rolling Stones can we have? Yet, to be original is very, very challenging. When you're that unique, it can take people several listens to get comfortable with your 'original' sound and trip. And since everyone and their grandmother can 'write a song' these days, it really gets down to marketing, persistence, and a lot of luck to sustain as an original artist.
So, with me, it's both originals and covers. I'm almost 59 years old and have been playing in rock bands, rock shows, tribute shows, theatrical rock productions, anything rock and roll related to pay the bills and continue to play rock n roll music! And, at the same time I have my original trip, The Tooners and Rock N Rol Rehab. Am I giving up? Hell no! Why should I? Or, maybe it's more like, "What else Can I Do?" Who's gonna hire me outside of music?
Bottom line, it really doesn't matter whether you play originals or covers . . . as long as you keep on rocking!
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